What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

I'm still working on cleaning up a gun. Slowly but surely just soaking with WD-40, wiping and repeating every day or so is getting the last couple rough spots cleaned up. Ordered a more robust solar setup which is something that has been on the list for awhile now. Will write more about it down the road sometime. Put some seedlings into containers in the garden. The beans seem to be thriving, unsure about the lettuce and spinach as of now.

Other than that not a ton going on here. What did you do to prepare this week?

New Years Resolutions- Finalized a bit late

I dropped some draft goals awhile back and was recently reminded of them. It is high time I solidify them.

Physical:

Maintain a consistent weight lifting program.

Run a half marathon (I changed to this because it's March and I haven't tracked mileage which was a big fat fail)



Continue working on barefoot running towards the goal of running on a  variety of terrain up to 5k barefoot

Transition to running fully in minimalist shoes

Ruck at least 1x a week

Eat reasonably with decent consistency so I don't gain and lose the same weight 2-3 times over the year.

Skills/ Training:

Attend a defensive handgun course.

Work on developing a variety of other skills as they come up by doing as much myself as possible.

Guns and Gun Junk:

Pick up a couple holsters and assorted other stuff to get squared away for what we have. (Specifically a nice Bravo or Raven concealment kydex holster for the Glock with TLR-1, a good OWB holster for the J frame, and an ankle holster.)

Purchase a DBAL and free float the barrel on project AR.  (The DBAL is almost funded I just need to do a bit more research then pull the trigger.)


Finally complete Project 870. At least the tube extension and sling. The light angle I've got to do some thinking on.

Get more spare parts. Beef up on core stuff (AR's and Glocks) and get some basic stuff (firing pin, extractor, ejector, springs, pins, etc) for other guns.

Finally get my (already sporterized) 1903 30'06 tapped and mount a scope on it.

If things work out and decent deals come along I would like to get a single shot 12 gauge and another .22 rifle. 

Subcategory Ammo: I am only doing this if prices get back to normalish. Would take my best whack at it and if I get half done be happy.
5k .22lr
1k 9mm
1k 12 gauge (mixed about 400 buck, 100 slug and 500 mixed small game loads)
2k .223


Food:

Build up to a 1 year supply of food for 4 people.

Can something

Continue with my garden this year.

Pursue fishing/ hunting as it fits with our environment and life. 

 Energy/ Other:

Get a better solar setup. A bigger panel with a power supply and a few small lights is the answer. Goal 0 makes what I am looking for. It will cost about $400. Probably 500 once I get the lights. This would have gotten purchased late in 2012 but the whole ban madness shifted my priorities elsewhere.

Get licensed to drive a motorcycle. Maybe purchase a used enduro/ adventure touring motorcycle.

Continue putting together and refining our systems. Firm up the bug out bags and the heavy (vehicle) bug out setup.

Re look and improve our cache situation.

Financial:

Continue being debt free and saving. Along these lines continue not doing stupid things. 

If we reach our food storage goal get back to putting away some silver and gold.

Long Shots:


Start on the AR Pistol.

Buy some land (this mostly depends on some other things).

As always input is welcome. It would be fairly useful now before these resolutions are solidified. 

Reader Question: Goal 0 Yetti 150 Solar Charger

Anybody have personal experience with Goal 0 equipment? What about the new Yetti 150 Solar charger? If so please chine in with your thoughts. Thanks,
R

Sun Oven In Progress Review

Since we are in Arizona, the land of the eternal sun there are a lot of opportunities to play with the Sun Oven.The picture is not mine I shamelessly stole it from this gal who uses her Sun Oven to make bread.

First it is worthwhile to talk a little bit about the Sun Oven. Here are some basic stats. The SUN OVEN is 19” x 19” with an average depth of 11”. The total weight is only 21 pounds. The back of the outside outer box is 14″ high and the front of the outer box is 9″ high. The back of the oven chamber is 11″ high and the front is 7″ high, with an average depth of 9″. The door opening for the oven chamber is 14″ in diameter. When opened the reflectors are 32″ in diameter.

The following materials used to make a SUN OVEN®:
Reflectors Anodized aluminum (which will never oxidize, rust or corrode)
Outer shell ABS plastic
Bezel Poplar wood (kiln dried)
Inner shell Anodized aluminum
Door Tempered glass
Between the aluminum inner shell and the plastic outer shell there is a thick batt of food grade fiberglass insulation.

The fit and finish are very nice.

Using the Sun Oven is fairly easy if you read the instructions and watch the videos. However if you do not do those things it is much harder. Don't ask how I know this. It is really important to position the Sun Oven properly. It needs to be facing the sun or slightly ahead of it and the elevation needs to be adjusted so as much sun is hitting the inside of the oven as possible.

Today I did a test to see how the Sun Oven does at getting up to real cooking temperatures. After setting it up I started a timer. After 15 minutes the temp in the Sun Oven was a bit above 300 degrees. At the half hour mark it was sitting at about 340. At the hour mark it reached a peak at 360. The temp would slip down a little bit when the sun moved away before time to adjust it. Someplace on the website I read that they recommend checking it every half hour and making a minor adjustment to keep it in the suns path. Also some folks will position their ovens so they will get the prime afternoon sun and go to work leaving the oven to do it's thing.

It is a bit early for a review but we will use the same format to discuss initial experiences and impressions.

The Good: A well made product. Some folks use theirs regularly for years. There isn't really anything on it that could break through normal use (obviously if you run it over with a truck or something that is an issue) which would not be easy to fix.

Capable of cooking using the power of the sun so it will not run out of fuel. Being able to bake and do the kind of long duration cooking that will just suck fuel on a Coleman stove is really nice. Like a lot of folks right now we do not have a wood stove, let alone one with an oven. We will not necessarily have one all the time (we are semi nomadic due to my job) until we settle down. A solar oven goes a long way towards filling that niche.

The Bad:

The Sun Oven does have some downsides. It is fairly large at 19"x19"x12"ish. You could fill the inside space with anything light like clothes or bedding but the thing is still pretty big.

Weather is a consideration. I am not exactly sure how much sun these ovens need to work but they do need some. Folks in perpetually overcast places might want to do some research before making a purchase.

Also Sun Ovens are not cheap. I think for the right person in the right climate they could definitely pay for themselves in normal times and be priceless in an emergency situation. On the other hand it would be a pretty expensive item to purchase and have just sit around.

There is a learning curve with solar cooking. You really do not want to try it for the first time when normal options are not available and wasting or ruining food is a serious problem. This is something that pretty much needs to get figured out before you need it.

The Ugly: No ugly at this time.

Discussion:

I see a couple real roles for the Sun Oven.  The first is as a way to save some money on the old gas/ electric bill. Along these lines it is just fun to fiddle around with. The second is as a way to cook in a set location be it a retreat or home or whatever. Being able to bake without an oven would be really nice in such a scenario. This oven could be the difference between having mediocre flat bread as your staple and real genuine bread. It is not really so good for a bug out type situation but in a basecamp or home type situation it has real potential to be an important part of ones cooking plans.

It is true that there are other solar cooking methods including DIY projects based on cardboard boxes and aluminum foil. The Sun Oven folks put a lot of time and energy into making that thing gather and hold as much heat as it can. They are really efficient which means you get more cooking out of the available sun than a less efficient solar cooker.

I think deciding if a sun oven is for you or if you should go another way depends a lot on what you want a solar cooker to do. If it is going to be a novelty you want to play with once or twice then a Sun Oven would be a hard sell. On the other hand if you are looking at a solar cooker being a key part of your overall cooking plans do you really want to be relying on a cardboard box and some aluminum foil?

As I start cooking with the Sun Oven we will talk about it more. Hopefully some of that will happen this coming week.

Guest Post: The Case for Cheap Led's

Hey Ryan, glad that you made it back to the US and that your family is doing well and is ever-expanding. I wrote you a while back about experimenting with the Walmart LED landscape lights as a backup light source:

Not wanting to spend $200 plus on a solar charger and LED lighting system, I decided to experiment with some alternatives. I bought a couple of the LED lights with solar chargers on them. Both of the types were found at Wally-World on the cheap( Ryan, I think I sent the first message last fall). I paid $3 for the little single LED light and about $5-8 for the large 3 LED spotlight. My thoughts were to have a functioning part of daily life have a dual role in case of an emergency.

What I found was interesting. On the little guy, if you twist the cap a half-turn, the top comes off. This is the guts of the whole light. The solar charger is on top and the LED on the bottom. Second, I noticed a battery door with a Phillips-head screw in it. After this was opened, I discovered a AA rechargeable battery ran the whole thing. BONUS! When I took the top in the house and walked from room to room with the single lumen, it lit a room fine. Of course it was dim but it was great for just illuminating the room. I found it worked even better if I reached up and set the light down on top of a ceiling fan blade. Months after starting the experiment, the little guy still stays lit until sometime after I go to bead.

The big-guy didn't do as well. It was sealed at the battery box and didn't last nearly as long- even on day one. Part two was a functional failure before it even got started.

In the end, I found the cheap single lumen landscape lights a viable dual function survival tool that keeps itself charged at all times and stays in the front yard until the lights go out. It then gets un-capped and brought in to supplement the lanterns and candles. The kids can't burn the house down and it also keeps some recharged AA batteries around....no matter what I have forgot to buy or keep charged. My next plan is to grab about 5-10 of these and take the batteries out of them. I'll store them in the Lights-Out box in the basement so that I can go put the batteries in them and stake them in to the ground if it looks like the power will be out more than one night. I also want to try putting a couple of lights under the one that is on and see what it takes to trip them on and off using each other's light. I want to try and make a daisy-chain of the lights that will turn each other on as the one before it runs out of juice. Total cost $3 to infinity. 

Thanks, Man 

Take care and post this some time you need a break!

Winning and Losing: Eating Well, Couch to 5k, Berkey Water Filter and Solar Power

We have been making some changes lately. We have started eating a lot better. More fresh fruit and veggies, lean protien and better carbs. Less eating out, just plain junk and carbtastic blah meals. Most of it is pretty intuitive. If there are not chips in the house you won't eat chips. Having some discipline and not going out to eat every time we feel like it and that sort of thing. The carb thing is kind of a grey area with lots of folks taking different views. We have both tried the super low/ no carb thing before and it doesn't work for us. She just hates it and I am tired and weak all the time. Instead we are trying to eat more reasonable portions of wheat bread or tortillas and brown rice. Just avoiding the huge bowl of white rice or plate of pasta kind of meals. We both feel a lot better and are getting healthier.
Wifey has been doing Couch to 5k. She is midway through week 6 right now. While she, like many people, does not currently and probably never will like running it is working for her. She noticed that dragging the kid up stairs has gotten easier. I would say this is a real good program for lots of people to seriously look at. If you are a fairly healthy person who is of a reasonable (like not morbidly obese) body weight but have not been very physically active this is a great way to get back to it. Toss in some sort of weight training program and you will be good to go. If you are seriously overweight or woefully out of shape it might be wise to do some sort of build up to this program, like eating reasonably and walking 1-2 times a day several days a week for a month or two to build up some conditioning and drop some fat. As always everybody should consult a general practice doctor, a dietitian, a cardiologist and a physical therapist before any sort of change to their diet or beginning any exercise program.

Personally I am cutting back to 2 times at the weight pile a week and upping my conditioning. Still doing the big lifts, just a bit more geared toward holding what I've got while conditioning gets tightened up. The human body only has so much work capacity and most of us only have so much time so there is a sort of push/ pull relationship. If you add or up the intensity in one thing you are going to almost inevitably lose ground in some other. Also inherantly between weight training and running/ cardio/ conditioning there is an inherant trade off. It isn't a bad thing really, especially for someone without many sport specific goals. Unless you plan to be a competitive marathoner or powerlifter it really isn't an issue.

On the downside our Berkey water filter is currently deadlined. I couldn't get it to seal and pass the dye test then (maybe while slightly frusterated;) I broke one of the white plastic nut/ bolt combo's that seal up the holes without an element in it while putting it back on. So I am not sure what exactly was wrong but now there is a new problem to deal with. Talk about not moving in the right direction!

This happened about three weeks ago and I put it away in frustration. I am going to get a replacement nut/ bolt and some more elements (either to replace the faulty ones or as spares) then go from there. On the bright side the good folks at Directive 21 have been great in helping me trouble shoot things and have just been a huge help with this. If I weren't such a slacking procrastinator this problem would likely already be fixed. Had I bought our Berkey from some no name fly by night folks who knows where I would be.  There are no problems that money (hopefully not very much, I really want it to be just the washer, not the element(s)!) and time can't fix. It hasn't been a huge concern because we have another water filter. Maybe there is a lesson there.

On a nice sunny day recently I busted out my little solar charger. I fiddled with it until I had a decent idea how it was supposed to work and then plugged in my kindle. After several hours in direct sunlight nothing happened and my dead kindle was still dead. This lead to a good amount of not very nice language.

 I realised a few things from this. First of all I do not know anywhere near enough about electricity. Second since we have added all sort of stuff, some pure entertainment and some useful since picking this charger up we may have already outgrown it. Third I need to test it at it's primary purpose which will be charging AA and AAA sized batteries. I am waiting for a sunny day when I have time to mess with it. Another more substantial (probably 15-26 watts) portable solar charger and maybe some sort of battery bank could be in order. However I have to do some more testing and become a more educated consumer before putting something else onto the wish list. If anybody has good resources to check out on this front I would be interested. Specifically good primers on electricity in general and a good breakdown of what watt/ size pannels can charge what sort of stuff and in how long would be great.

These two events were pretty frusterating for me. Nothing like having to go back to the drawing board or adding something else to the shopping list in an area where you thought things were good. Then again testing stuff is a good thing, even if you don't get the answers that you would like. Far better to have issues now, with the worst case being spending a little bit of money (water filter) or adjusting my expectations and maybe searching for a new piece of gear (solar charger), then some time down the road during an emergency when I need this stuff to work.

I guess the closing point is to look at eating healthier, getting into better shape plus alsp really start testing and retesting your equipment. Odds are something that should work might not.

Quote of the Day

"The issue as I see it is that American liberals are anti energy or at least any functional and viable forms of energy. They don't like coal or oil and I can kind of get that. However they also do not like nuclear energy. Electric cars are ...just about the stupidest thing out there because most electricity comes from coal or diesel powered generators. I would be for some kind of policy that would lead to enviornmentally friendly energy independence if it is a serious conversation. Wind and solar are great but they can only meet a tiny percentage of our total energy use. One might as well say that homes will be powered by rainbows and gum drops."

 

-Me

Small Scale Alcohol Production

I was recently sent a link to this article.

Wyoming House advances doomsday bill

House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government.


The task force would look at the feasibility of:


Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.


The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S.
Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst.


“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room today what would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because that is clearly not the case,” state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. “To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad’s going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy.”

Read more here.
 
It seems like a pretty solid plan. My only question is what would Wyoming, which unless my state geography is seriously off is landlocked, would do with an aircraft carrier.

Small Solar Setups

I got an email about this today. It mentioned those solar yard lights as an idea. In my personal experience and from what I have read they are not an impressive product. They are a great idea but it just doesn't seem to work. Personally for a budget alternative energy setup I got some rechargeable batteries and a solar charger for them. I think the cost was somewhere around $200-250. For lighting I would use them to feed a couple of LED lanterns and some flashlights. In a couple years when I upgrade I will get a couple solar panels, some deep cycle batteries and a few LED lights.

Anyway those are my .02 cents on that.

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

I am just not sure when it comes to precious metals these days. I see definite shades of 1980 in the charts and buying at the top of the market is bad. On the other hand it may be different because of our insane monetary policy and other factors. Prices could continue to climb and stay high for many years so I may start getting priced out of the market entirely. Right now I see the up side for silver being better than gold. I am still buying but am not going to increase my contributions any. This week silver dipped some and I was able to pick up a roll of 90% quarters and another of dimes. It was money from last year so I guess I was a bit closer to last years PM goal then I thought. Or we could say this year is getting off to a great start.

We also picked up a snow shovel to keep in our vehicle. Wifey got a lightly used Helly Hansen waterproof shell type coat at the used stuff store for like 18 bucks. She needed a waterproof coat with a hood and even if she had 3 that was too good of a deal to pass up.

I also got started using my Kindle. Downloaded a bunch of public domain books. Got the Gibbons I plan to read as well as some Shirlock Holmes and The Count of Monte Cristo. Next I am going to get military manuals and survival type PDF's. A solar charger would greatly aid in its prep utility and is worth at least looking into.

It has been a pretty crazy week here with getting back home from the holidays and me jumping back into work. We are probably still feeling the after effects of jet lag and all that. I cooked dinner yesterday and incorporated a bunch of cans of stuff we have had lying around. There were some substitutions but it turned out well.

Next week I am going to try and get through more of The Bear Went Over The Mountain. It is very interesting if dry at times. Also I am going to get some more stuff to put on the Kindle.

Got emergency seeds? If you don't you probably should.

Political Views vs Real Life

I think we Americans do ourselves a great disservice by the artificial divides of political labels and parties. While the liberal vetting criteria of abortion or the conservative litmus test of the Second Amendment are meaningful in their own right's we get too carried away with them. This is seriously to our detriment as individuals and works into the hands of the political power structure.

For example Miley is visiting us. If we looked at the two of us in terms of political labels or parties we would be polar opposites. However lets set abortions and guns aside for a minute. We are both personally quite frugal. Saving and planning are a big part of our respective lifestyles and long term plan. We like getting very cheap or free stuff whenever possible. We cook staple foods.We like doing things ourselves. For slightly different reasons alternative energy interests both of us.

Interestingly enough she has expressed some interest in setting up a serious pantry. It is quite possible that she and her husband, who I haven't came up with a blog name for yet, will become part of our long term preparedness plans. She can cook, sew, garden, etc and he is quite handy in all sorts of ways. Assuming they contributed to a solid logistical footing (really a prerequisite for anybody, no point in having a big starving party) they would be enjoyable and useful folks to have around.

I recall somebody once saying that if the far left and right every get together and realize they have more in common with each other then the center, the center will be in trouble. I don't know if that is totally true. Some differences are probably irreconcilable between the two. However some elements of them might have a heck of a lot more in common than previously thought.

Don't worry about someones political views or identity. Focus on how they conduct themselves in the world and towards you and yours. Good honest hardworking people have all kinds of political views just the same way that lazy people and moochers can. Especially in personal interactions and preparedness planning a person's view on a theoretical political issue doesn't matter (if at all) anywhere as much as their personal conduct.

Not Good, Just Less Bad

I saw something interesting on the yahoo main page today. It is an article called The Myth of Good Debt. Certainly it is good for a coffee break or a few minutes of internet time wasting.

The whole subject of "good debt" vs bad debt has always kind of bothered me. Plain and simple debt is bad. You are promising future earnings for something now. You are almost surely paying interest for this service.

To be honest I think it is more like kind of bad debt and really bad debt. I would characterize home mortgages and education is kind of bad and consumer debt, credit cards, car loans and the like and really bad debt. The label good implies that it is smart to have this debt and it does great things for you. Sometimes that is right. In particular getting a college degree greatly increases (on average) your earning power. If you could figure a way to get through school with no debt or low debt that is ideal. However since educational costs have increased greatly beyond inflation or typical low level (working your way through school type job) wages that isn't always realistic.

Tangent begins- Also I would submit to some people that working your way through school at a low paying job and taking classes part time isn't the best route anyway. I have known a lot of people who had significant life problems as well as academic difficulties that lead to them not finishing school. They take a class here and another there and periodically have to drop out due to life reasons or even fail classes. Screwing up and not getting to a place where they can earn a comfortably livable wage and then continuing to earn 7-12 bucks an hour is pretty common. These folks then whine about how life is so hard and it isn't fair and generally have a long term pity party. What would often be a better course of action is to decrease their lifestyle if applicable, work less and borrow just enough to make up the difference. The difference between going to school and working 12-20 hours a week or 30-40 is huge. At minimum wage or close the amount of money we are talking about isn't that big. They could focus on school more and get it done at a decent pace. It probably will not be too hard to pay back said money with their increased future earnings. This is basically what I did and while I should have borrowed a bit less lived a bit cheaper it has worked out pretty well for us so far. End tangent.

With educational expenses should come degrees or certifications that significantly boost your earning power. I have got news for everybody. The days when a guy could graduate high school and  fall into a comfortably paying job doing work trained monkeys could do are over. We could talk about why this has happened but it doesn't change that it has. Especially with today's economy and jobs being scare you need to be marketable.

Mortgages are slightly worse than educational expenses IMO. I say this is because they do not have the same kind of exponential payoff as education (if properly targeted and used). Also the returns are generally less of a sure thing. House prices have a great long term track record but the short-mid term can be wild.

It would take a really long time for most people to save the cash to buy a traditional home outright. There are certainly some benefits to alternative housing but if you don't want to go that way the options are saving a lot of money for a very long time or getting a mortgage. Certainly paying the landlords mortgage for decades instead of your own and not getting the tax benefits or the appreciation in value doesn't make any sort of sense.

Getting a decent fixed mortgage you can actually afford on a home makes good sense for somebody in a stable financial place with some savings. As you noticed that sentence was kind of complicated. Maybe adjustable rate type mortgages or other exotic options make sense for some smart people in some situations. However for most people they are a horrible decision. If you can't afford a fixed rate it means you can't afford the home. Stability is very important as even short mortgages last many years and you need to be able to make that payment every month. Personally I have seen a lot of people get into trouble when they happen to get a job that pays somewhat better than they can expect elsewhere, 10 dollar an hour type guy earning 13 or a job that pays 70k instead of 55. The issue comes when they get a loan they can afford at their current higher wages and for whatever reason (laid off, fired, decide to change fields, etc) they end up changing jobs. Think about how much you could make at another job. Also having a safety net in the form of an emergency fund is essential. You've got to be able to deal with that month the car breaks or being out of work for awhile. I think Chief Instructor said once that a month of looking for every ten thousand dollars in salary is a guideline.

Part of my concern is that the concept of "good debt" leads to an attitude that having this debt is normal and even smart. Yeah it smart to increase your earning power with a degree and eventually purchase a home. However it is really smart to pay off that student loan as fast as possible and in time the home too. Having a mortgage (for the right person) beats the heck out of renting but owning a home free and clear beats the heck out of having a mortgage. I think it is also worth noting that if you buy a modest home you can actually afford paying it off at an accelerated rate is probably realistic. If you get absolutely as much home as you can make the payments on of course it isn't realistic to pay 10, 20, 50 or even 100% extra principle payments.

Cars I would classify as the best or most understandable of the "bad debt". Buying cars with cash is ideal. However "clunkers" can have some real problems. Some folks are good at fixing cars or just lucky and others have horrible luck. Often clunkers are unreliable and just $400 the heck out of you until they die. Basically if you aren't able to save a decent bit of cash and need a car for transportation you're pretty much stuck getting a loan. The real problem is how expensive of a car you get. For example awhile back my little sister found herself needing a decent reliable car. She went and got a loan to pay for a few year old basic car. Not a junker but also not new or fancy or anything like that. She paid it off faster than the loans planned life and still drives it. You need reliable transportation, not a new Mercedes. Look at it this way. If you can't afford to pay cash it means you aren't in a great spot for getting this car so be reasonable.

Consumer loans and credit card debt and such are just bad. The best case is that you use these as a sort of emergency fund because you haven't saved a couple months worth of expenses. This is bad because if you can't afford this stuff now why would you think it will be easier to afford later. I am a realist and I know things happen. I can also note that for some strange reason things seem to happen a lot more to folks who do not have emergency funds. Some unforeseen stuff comes up that has to happen right away. Replacing a key household appliance is a good example. Lets say your washer goes out. You get a new one from Sears and finance it then pay it off over a couple paychecks. Not insane. [However what if something bigger happens. Putting a months worth of living expenses from some down time at work on a credit card could take forever to dig out of. ] However using consumer loans to get all new appliances you don't really need for the whole house is insane.

My observation is that people rarely get into consumer or credit card debt trouble because of using them to ride out an emergency. People get into trouble here by using credit to live beyond their means buying this and that and the other thing which they can't afford and almost certainly don't need.

Sometimes debt makes sense. It can be understandable and even a good decision. However do not forget that at the end of the day no matter how "good" debt is it's still a promise of money you haven't even earned yet. Use it responsibly and try to get out of it as quickly as possible.

Real World Effects of EMP on Motor Vehicles

You must read this. I am going to dig into the stuff on the website next week.

Stop Backing Yourself Into a Corner

One of the wonderful things about America is that it is a very free country. Maybe not quite as free as it was at some other point but people living in the good ole USA have more rights, protections and freedom to do what they please than in just about every other country in the world.

So often people back themselves into a corner in terms of lifestyle and the resulting debt/ expenses. They have to live in this kind of house, drive this type of vehicle (or even a vehicle at all), charge stuff they can't afford and whatever. The result is that they are in an uncomfortable situation. These folks often turn around and blame everybody but themselves for their circumstances. It is a big picture version of eating a big mac and extra jumbo fries with a large milkshake for lunch every day and blaming other people for why you are fat.

If you don't like the amount of money you can make then get a degree or some certification or skill to become more valuable to an employer or customer. It is a lot more productive than whining. If you do not want a mortgage then find some kind of alternate housing you can afford to pay cash for. Maybe get a little piece of land paid for free and clear. Hate the idea of an HOA then don't buy a house in one. If zoning restrictions in your current location prevent this kind of action and you really still want to do it then MOVE to somewhere you can do what you want. If you want to home school your kids then move to a home school friendly area. Don't like the tax laws in your state? Move to a different one. Don't like your city/ states gun laws? Vote with your feet. If you want to be able to shoot an AK-47 from the front porch naked at 3 in the morning then start in a state that is cool with the AK-47 and then find a place with no nearby neighbors. If you don't want to deal with car insurance, registration and such then don't have a car. Live within biking/ walking range or public transport routes to the places you need to go. Maybe arrange to go to Costco with a cool neighbor who has a big van every month or two. If you don't want a credit card then don't have one. Don't like debt; too easy simply do not borrow money from anybody. If you hate paying taxes then make conscious (legal of course) choices to limit your tax liability.  This is checkers, not chess. Simply make choices to not be involved in things you don't want to be involved with and to be in the situation you want to be in. 

Of course because this is simple doesn't mean it is easy. Just like dieting or household budgets knowing what you should do and easy implimentation are very different things. Every decision has second and third order effects. You might like some parts of an area (family, work, recreation, etc) and hate the restrictive laws. Not having a vehicle sucks but you don't need insurance or vehicle inspections. Living in a nice house is more spacious and comfortable than a travel trailer or a shack/ tent. Generally places where you can buy a piece of land for the price of a decent pistol and do whatever you want on it kind of suck. They are far from jobs, may not have water or are otherwise undesirable. Hence the name junk land.

The thing is that you have to make a choice as to what is more important. Often nice places to live where there are plenty of good jobs and fun things to do have expensive housing costs. So either move to a place where you can afford to live comfortably or stay where you are and gripe about the rent/ mortgage/ taxes.

The old saying about construction comes to mind; a job can be done fast, cheap and right but you only get to pick two of them. Inevitably there are difficult choices and compromises to be made on all fronts (housing, location, work, vehicles, debt, tax and gun laws, zoning, etc).

The important word in that last paragraph is CHOICES. I'm not telling you that you must do anything (though it would be nice if you clicked on one of our ads and suggested the blog to a friend;) but am telling you that you can choose. The real interesting part is that this stuff can snowball big time. If you don't need to make a big rent/ mortgage payment then maybe you can quit that horrible job. You could then try a business idea that has been in your head for awhile. If you don't need to impress people at that fancy job then maybe an older paid off vehicle (or no vehicle at all) will work just fine. With all that time you aren't at work all kinds of things could be done.

Take some responsibility and ownership over your life. Figure out what is really important to you. Think outside the box and focus on what is important to you and your family, not the Johnson's, or anybody else. Make the inevitable hard choices and create the kind of life that you really want to have.

Peak Oil

World Made By Hand and the writings of our buddy in a trailer in Nevada have made me see peak oil differently over the past few months. I am starting to see why people worry. Though maybe for different reasons.

There is so much hype and "science" around this topic that I am not even going to look at that perspective. Lets just for the sake of the discussion agree that there is probably a pretty finite (or slow repleting) supply of oil and sooner or later we will start to run out of the stuff. Personally I do not think this would lead to a Mad Max type situation.

Human beings have long been able to adapt to a new situation by using technology. I have thin skin, no fur and modest fat reserves but live pretty comfortably in a place where there is regular snow for about 4 months of the year. How do I do this? I live in a warm place and wear heavy clothes when I go outside. Our capacity to create technology that allows us to survive, if not live comfortably in many austere environments.

People talk about how X amount of oil is needed to produce or transport food and a sure reason everybody would die if we got more than 12 fewer barrels of oil next year than we did this one. I just don't see that happening. We have other means of providing energy to do all sorts of nifty things energy does. Most of the reason we use oil so widely is that it is so cheap that other alternatives are not currently cost effective. Interestingly that flows well into my next thought.

I am not particularly concerned that the world will get sucked into endless resource wars to the bottom or everybody will starve to death. However I do have serious concerns about what this would do to our economic model. Obviously JIT delivery and shipping goods incredible distances would no longer be effective, maybe even for the better. However if the price of energy skyrocketed it would drag the price of everything else up as well. From heating a home to buying food and manufactured goods prices would really hurt people. This would in turn lead to more unemployment and pretty quickly a sort of vicious cycle of taxation, increasing costs and rising unemployment.

I don't know what this world would turn out to be but I imagine it would take a serious turn for the unpleasant somewhere.

In the grand scheme of things peak oil is low on my list of concerns. Somewhere in the area of hyperinflation or a global pandemic and just above zombies or the UN invading America. How am I preparing for this? Well the general food, water, medicine, arms stuff covers a lot. Also I am slowly but surely working to acquire the skills (and stuff to make the skills work) so that I can have a couple back up career options.

Thought?

Battery Semi Failure

I have been feeling kind of out of sorts when it comes to preparedness and the blog for awhile now. Just kinda in a funk if you will. I think it has shown in my writing too. I have been doing this whole blogging thing for awhile and this happens sometimes.  If it goes on for a short period I just plod forward (even hobbies aren't constantly fun in every way, they just have to even out to be a majority of fun) in the normal fashion. If it goes past that stage which I think it did a couple weeks ago I have to break out of that stagnation by getting back to concrete preparedness. Often for me somehow these stagnation's correspond with getting away from concrete preparedness and towards more conceptual type stuff.

I seem to do best all around when I do stuff and write about it or what I think about it. Of course I enjoy writing about work stuff which interests you guys and analyzing news and fun debates but those are really more of side dishes.  

Anyway I felt the need to  do something. As it is late and I wasn't feeling THAT motivated it had to be something already lying around the house. I remembered a box full of Eneloop batteries that have been doing nothing. I went and dumped it out on the bed. My intent was to discharge some of the batteries (they come already charged) and then when it gets sunny use my also untested Bruton solar charger to recharge them.

I got to thinking about what stuff I have around that would discharge batteries the fastest. I figured my big d cell Mag Light would be it. That was also a happy coincidence because I also wanted to fiddle with the AA-D spacer/ adapter things I got. In past talks people suggested I just get AA's and spacers/ adapter thingies instead of D sized rechargeable batteries. It made sense as well as being logistically simple and cheap so I went that route. Tossed some AA's into the thingies and put them into the Mag Light and got nothing.

Fiddled with it some more and still nada. The Mag Light would run with 2 normal D batteries and one of these AA's in a spacer but now 2 AA's with spacers and one normal D battery. I thought this was peculiar but not a big deal. I grabbed one of the LED lanterns we keep near the bed for when the power goes out. These things are energy sippers and last about a million hours on 3 D batteries. Put them in and NADA.

I got curious if these batteries were charged at all. Grabbed my electric electric shaver and threw a pair of AA's in. It ran fine which confirmed that they were charged.

This leaves me a bit confused and perturbed. I am confused because I don't understand what the problem is. Honestly I know essentially nothing about electricity or batteries. Am I doing something wrong or does the whole using a spacer/ adapter to have AA's in a D cell item idea just not work? Also about half of our significant battery powered stuff runs on D cells so this is not cool. 

Ideas or suggestions?

Want To Be Part Of A New Texas Off Grid Town

Enter the rabbit hole.

The American Dream 2: Opting Out

I intended this to be one post but it got pretty long and I realized that to really hit my main points it was going to have to get broken up. Figured this was the best route so I pushed my other plans to the right a day.

I have been accused of being heartless or inexperienced or otherwise somehow not well informed on this topic. I have said more or less that people are where they are because of choices they made. That elicited a series of unhappy comments. Here is my take on the whole thing. First of all I believe in personal responsibility. Aside from truly freak accidents and blind dumb luck pretty much everything that happens in our lives is a result of some choice or another.

However it seems that maybe some folks see this position of mine as an attack against them or a view on them as an individual. That is not the case. I have a solid measure of respect for people who instead of complaining about this or that come right out and say "I made a mistake and am living with the consequences". Good people can and do often make poor choices. Maybe it is just that my mind is compartmentalized but I can really empathize with someones tough situation without trying to shift blame for it away from them. I can feel bad for someone in a rough spot while completely recognizing they put themselves in that spot. 

As I talked about in length yesterday the American Dream is getting harder to achieve. Its price has gone up and the earning power of a lot of folks has gone down. No point in excessively rehashing, read yesterdays post if you need to catch up.


I see two broad reasons people opt out of the American Dream. The first is that they (at least right now) just plain can not afford it. The second is that they want to take another path. We will talk about them in order.

Some folks just plain can't afford the "American Dream". They may have the exact same job their father had (unlikely but lets go with it) however they make less money and stuff costs more. There is a lot of pressure to drive this and live here, etc. It is a hard decision to do something else, like what you can really afford. One of the downsides of the relatively recently passed insane credit bubble was that it was very easy for people to borrow their way into the American Dream. Then their adjustable rate mortgages adjusted or they got cut from 40 hours a week to 35 and their whole house of cards falls down.

Some people do not want the American Dream, at least not all of it or right now. They might just like being foot loose and fancy free preferring to live in a motor home instead of a 3 bedroom ranch. Maybe they realize that to them it is worth downsizing their expenses in order to be able to work less or take a few months every year off. Maybe they are just super cheap and would rather have cash in the bank then wood floors in the dining room.

To a certain degree Wifey and I fall into this category. We like most parts of the American Dream but are going to do it on a time line we are comfortable with. One thing about my rough age group (call it 23-33) we seem to expect to walk into a darn near ready made American Dream like a week after we get even a mediocre job. It is sometimes possible to do it that way these days (more so 3 or so years ago) with the ready available credit to anyone close to worthy.

Personally Wifey and I were not comfortable with that format. The idea of having a solid emergency fund and little or no debt suits us. We are living pretty modestly now in order to be able to do well and still be well within our means later. It might be a pretty solid idea for someone like our friend 5:59 to bite the bullet and live in a cheap little apartment for two years to pay off those student loans and otherwise shore up their financial foundation. Like many things in life the right answer is not the easy one.

 We would love to own a nice home and drive a couple of solidly decent cars. However right now we can not pay for them in a fashion that is comfortable for us. We have very different opinions on how we should spend, save and borrow than most other folks. When we got married we lived in an RV for a few months. Lots of other folks would have gotten a nice apartment or even rented a house. We had some interesting times in the RV and Trailer Park and saved up some money. Folks at work messed with me a bit until I mentioned that our total housing expenses were $300. In hindsight I should have gotten a travel trailer and lived in it through college. In Alabama we chose a fairly modest apartment in order to save money.

I would love to drive a newish Toyota FJ Cruiser and Wifey would enjoy a nice little BMW. To be honest we could have these things this weekend. However we really do not want a car loan (let alone 2!) and thus we have one beat up old car. Instead of having 2 car loans eat up our income we chose to save up for a modest second car. Also by living well below our means we are able to put money towards stuff we think is worthwhile. Two car loans would make it impossible to establish an emergency fund, save for the future or otherwise get ahead.

In a few years we will buy a house. It will likely be a pretty modest fixer upper type place. A wood stove for sure and ideally a basement but nothing too amazing. I would rather fix up a place a bit than pay for a perfect place. We will come at home ownership a bit later than a lot of my peers. After all until you are a home owner you haven't made it. Too many people over the last few years jumped into something they could barely afford if  they got a normal paycheck and nothing bad happened without even enough savings to get some basic repair on their car. Between their ARM mortgages adjusting or a crazy event like having a few slow weeks at work and these folks can have real issues. Personally I would rather have a bit more modest home, slightly later in life but with a solid emergency fund and with a home we can genuinely afford during a bad month when everything goes wrong.

I strongly encourage you to think long and hard. First think about what you can realistically afford and then think about what your priorities are. Remember, no matter how much someone else says you need to drive this or live here unless they are going to pay for it they don't get a vote. It is fine to want this and that and the other thing, most of us do. However you have to look at what you can afford and choose. Also to make things even more complicated you need to balance how much of a lifestyle you want to make yourself be able to afford. A guy who lives a lifestyle, even the American Dream that requires him to work 70 hours a week at a job he hates might just be happier with a smaller house, or even a trailer, and a more normal job that is not so stressful.

We all face a variety of different kinds of pressure. This pressure both real and perceived can couple together with our own  desires and be a recipe for disaster. People back themselves into a circle where they  have to have that house filled with those electronics in that neighborhood with those cars out front. They get all this stuff which they can't afford, seeing it as the only option and then don't understand how things are so bad. I do not have a great answer for this. Just like anything else your choices are your own and others do not pay the price for them. The same way that a friend who encourages you to do shots with them on a work night when they have the next day off is not going to feel your hangover the next day at work. People might cheer you on or encourage you to do something or another but at the end of the day your choices, good or bad are your own.

Power Outage Fun

It has been pretty windy all day. Started out like a normal Sunday. I drank some tea (since I gave up coffee for Lent) and we were fiddling around online. Went to the store at about 11 like normal. After buying our food we started driving home. A bit out of the grocery store we saw a tree down over the road. Easy enough to drive around it and go to our next destination. On the way home from there we noticed a big sign was black and thought that was interesting. About 50 meters down the road we saw why, a power pole was down, like the pole broke and fell on the ground.

We came home and it was obvious the power was out. We sorted through the groceries to get the stuff that had to go in the fridge and freezer then quickly opened them one at a time to put the stuff in. After that we just sorta hung out. Our dinner plan changed slightly to make it easier to cook on a camping stove but that was more about convenience than necessity. We had a radio to listen to if we wanted. Lanterns and flashlights to see when it gets dark. I pulled the chair over towards the window to get better light and read most of The Modern Survival Retreat by Ragnar Benson. Wifey worked on some book or another. Also we talked a lot which was nice.

In short our plans for the day changed very little. We were not worried about putting together a decent dinner and cleaning it up afterwords or how to get around once it got dark.

The nice thing about being prepared for reasonable situations is that you can continue life in a more or less normal fashion when things happen. We could continue this way for a long time.

Since the power came on I was able to post today which was nice. After I wrap this up I am going to finish the book and then cook a nice simple dinner of hot dogs, beans and chips which was the power outage plan.